Tag Archives: Vasodilators

For my cardiology rotation, I prepared and delivered my first nursing in-service on vasopressors and inotropes in cardiogenic shock. I was fortunate to have my preceptor review my handout and help me prepare for my in-service, as well as, to have a great group of nurses attend the in-service! 🙂

Areas I did well on:

Slowed down my pace and provided time for the audience to absorb the information presented, as well as, ask and answer questions. There were times where I got nervous and quickened my pace, but I was able to pick up on those moments and slow down my pace.

Incorporated visuals and asked questions to the audience in order to engage and reinforce understanding of the material

Areas to improve on and do for future in-services:

Conveying relevant information in a manner that is easy for the audience to absorb and giving my audience key points to take away (e.g. incorporating possible cases or situations, explaining key concepts clearly and providing memory aids)

For future in-services, I will:

ask my target audience about what they would want to know more about or would like a reference handout on, as well as, the sorts of experiences they have had regarding the topic.

Incorporate learning objectives and an outline of the in-service so that the audience is aware of the purpose and flow of the presentation

Draw commonalities and provide memory aids

making sure I define duration (e.g. short-term), pay attention to the units I use and include references

Paying attention to my audience and their body language, as well as, the environment that I am presenting at in order to assess if I am projecting my voice loud enough.

Being more comfortable and practicing different ways of presenting. This was my first time presenting with a whiteboard and it was a challenging but great learning experience to have to juggle writing on the whiteboard and connecting with the audience, all while trying to keep myself on track with the presentation. At times, I got nervous and lost where I was in my presentation and had to rely on my handout to get me back on track.

For my future in-services, I will:

trial out different ways to present information in a clear, neat and organized manner

Practice, practice, practice! If time allows, I will at least try to record my voice and reflect on the delivery of my next in-service

Even if I may not have time to go over it during the in-service, I will incorporate things that would be important for the nursing staff to have as a quick reference on the handout (e.g. common dosing of medications)